Mediterranean Journal of Hematology and Infectious Diseases (Jan 2011)

WHAT ARE FUNGAL INFECTIONS?

  • Ben E de Pauw

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4084/mjhid.2011.001
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 3, no. 1
pp. e2011001 – e2011001

Abstract

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Yeasts and moulds now rank amongst the 10 most frequently isolated pathogens in febrile patients with an impaired immune system. Fungi are mainly opportunistic pathogens that only invade the body if a severely weakened natural defense permits them to do so. Most factors facilitating an invasive fungal infection are unavoidable because they are directly connected to the underlying diseases as well as to their treatment.Modern aggressive treatment modalities jeopardize the defense mechanisms to an extent that even fungi with a low virulence may enter the body.